MARTIN Birtles, who struggled to think of anything historic about Hartlepool (HAS, Jan 13), has led a very sheltered life.
In 731 AD, the Venerable Bede wrote – in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People – that “Oswui’s daughter, who had been dedicated to God, entered the monastery named Heruteu (Hartlepool), that is, the island of the hart, over which Hild was then abbess. Two years later she gained possession of ten hides in the place known as Streanaeshealth (Whitby) and there built a monastery”.
This building pre-dates the church at Billingham by some 200 years (Oswui was king of Northumbria from 642-670AD).
The remains of the medieval port wall and gateway still exist, together with the results of recent finds from archaeological digs in Old Hartlepool.
There has been evidence of Roman occupation of the site as a signal station, along with Samien pottery discovered on the beach and recorded in Archaeolgia Aliena in the early 18th Century.
Sir Cuthbert Sharp’s History of Hartlepool (written in the 18th Century) refers to Robert the Bruce’s family holding land at Hartlepool.
This snapshot would suggest that Hartlepool does deserve the appellation of “historic”. I would recommend that Mr Birtles visits the Headland area to find out more of Hartlepool’s history.
Tim Brown, Ferryhill, Co Durham.
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